Thursday, 24 May 2012

Air New Zealand has launched a star-studded charity
auction running all this week to raise £30,000 for children’s charity Phab.

Air NZ’s celebrity fliers have donated
exclusive, one-of-a-kind items and experiences to the auction including a
master replica of a Stars Wars lightsaber signed by George Lucas himself, a
Warner Brothers VIP deluxe studio tour in Hollywood and trip to the Weta
Workshop, masterminds behind the Lord of The Rings and the upcoming Hobbit
films, as well as the chance to star in your own Comic book front cover with
The Justice League!

For all Sci-Fi lovers, there are some amazing
items/experiences. The auction runs until 27 May and we're hoping to raise as
close to £30,000 as possible.

Tuesday, 22 May 2012

Word comes that SANCTUARY has been cancelled following poor ratings in the US for season 4, following on from even poorer showing in season 3. This means that it joins this year's hit list that already contains JJ Abrams' ALCATRAZ, Jason Isaacs' AWAKE and teen witch show THE SECRET CIRCLE. Shows that will be back, however, include Keifer Sutherland's TOUCH and the ever popular FRINGE.

Monday, 21 May 2012

Steven Moffat is to be rewarded for his work on DOCTOR WHO and SHERLOCK with a special award at the BAFTA TV awards on the 27th May in celebration of his 'outstanding creative writing contribution to television'.

There's no arguing with his writing, no matter what you think of the direction that the Time Lord's adventures have taken under his reign and on those grounds we think it's well deserved.

Wednesday, 16 May 2012

Kapow! is taking place at the Business Design Centre in Islington,
London on May 19 & 20. Visitors will be amongst the first in the
world to get an exclusive look at upcoming comics, Hollywood movie
blockbusters, and hit TV shows from the biggest publishers and studios
in the world, plus we have live events and interviews taking place
throughout the weekend.

Tuesday, 15 May 2012

Marvel's Avengers Assemble (as the British must learn to say it because Americans think we might not be able to tell the difference between the pairings of John Steed/Emma Peel and The Hulk/Black Widow) has become the first Hollywood film ever to break $100 million dollars in its second week.

As reported on the BBC website, this is the second moneymaking records the film has smashed after taking over $200 million in its opening weekend.

It would seem that everyone loves Joss Whedon's take on the premier Marvel superhero tag team.

“My exhibition of the year so far? The Doctor Who Experience”The Guardian

“The hottest ticket in the universe”Daily Mail

“suddenly it’s as if you’re actually in an episode of the television series”The Telegraph

BBC Worldwide has announced the official opening date for their multi-award winning attraction the Doctor Who Experience in Cardiff, the home of the BBC One show. Doors will open to the public on the 20th July with tickets going on sale at 10am on the 14th June.

Philip Murphy, Managing Director of BBC Worldwide Live Events said: “The
Doctor Who Experience in Cardiff is going to be just minutes away from
where the BBC Wales television series is made which I’m incredibly
excited about. The Experience sets out to engage visitors’ imaginations
from the outset immersing them in the world of Doctor Who and what
better place to do this than in Cardiff the home of the show.”

The
Doctor Who Experience is the first ever interactive Doctor Who
exhibition that invites visitors to star in their very own Doctor Who
adventure. Arriving at the venue they will step through a crack in time
to become the Doctor’s companion, taking on the challenge of reuniting
the Doctor with the TARDIS whilst fending off threats from some of his
most fearsome foes - entering a Dalek spaceship and finding a way
through a maze of Weeping Angels. Featuring a replica of the Eleventh
Doctor’s TARDIS which visitors get to fly themselves the interactive
walk-through culminates in a stunning 3D finale that sets the scene for
fans entering the exhibition.

The
exhibition presents fans with the world’s most extensive collection of
original Doctor Who costumes and artefacts stretching back almost 50
years to the very first series of Doctor Who.

The
content of the exhibition is updated constantly with new items from the
television series to ensure it is ever changing offering fans the
chance to get up close to the incredible sets, costumes and props that
feature in their favourite show. New items to be shown to the public
for the first time in Cardiff include the Doctor’s cradle seen in A Good Man Goes to War; the Silence spaceship and Matt Smith’s sonic cane from Let’s Kill Hitler with many more items being kept under wraps until the doors open on 20th July.

IRON SKY is a film unlike any other and we're not talking about the storyline that deals with nazis having taken refuge on the moon. No, this is a film that was paid for by online contributions. And with a storyline like that who wouldn't want to bung a few quied their way.

It's finally coming to the UK for one day only at cinemas before being moved to shiny disc format. Here's the publicity blurb:

In the final
moments of World War II, a secret Nazi space program evaded destruction by
fleeing to the Dark Side of the Moon. Over the next 70 years, in utter secrecy,
the Nazis constructed a gigantic space fortress, amassing a veritable armada of
flying saucers.

When American
astronaut James Washington (Christopher Kirby) sets down his Lunar Lander a bit
too close to the secret Nazi base, the Moon Führer (Udo Kier) decides the
glorious moment of retaking the Earth has arrived sooner than expected.
Washington claims the mission is just a publicity stunt for the President of
the United States (Stephanie Paul), but what else could the man be but a scout
for the imminent attack by Earth forces? The Fourth Reich must act!

Two Nazi
officers, ruthless Klaus Adler (Götz Otto) and idealistic Renate Richter (Julia
Dietze), travel to Earth to prepare for the invasion. In the end when the Moon
Nazi UFO armada darkens the skies, every man, woman and nation alike must
re-evaluate their priorities.

Brought to life
by Finnish Director Timo Vuorensola and producer Tero Kaukomaa, Iron Sky is a
participatory cinema phenomenon, garnering enormous support through various
social media networks and online channels. Over the five years of its
production, over 10,000 fans participated in crowd funding and sourcing
efforts. Such was the buzz created around Iron Sky that it attracted
around 200 further investors who contributed over £500,000 towards production
costs - raising the bar for community led filmmaking to new heights.

About Me

I am English, mid forties and a recent widower with two children and no time to, well pretty much anything these days.
More pertinently, I write and the fruits of these labours are available as ebooks on the likes of amazon, ibooks, smashwords and lulu.com
My main area of interest is science fiction and fantasy with a side order of supernatural horror. That's what I watch and read and write. I am a geek and proud of it. In fact, I also run a website called the Sci Fi Freak Site reviewing genre TV shows (it being pretty hard to get to the cinema any more).
I am also a regular contributor (some might say heckler) of the kindle forum on amazon.co.uk. It was there that it was suggested that every writer must have a blog, so here it is.
Blame them.